Mail-marking machine



Feb. 26, 1929.

A. IELFIELD MAIL MARKING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 IINHIH Filed March 22,1926 a f y Feb. 26, 1929.

-A. IELFIELD MAIL MARKING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Mgoh 22, 1926Fbb.26,1929.

A. IELFIELD MAIL MARKING MACHINE Filed-March 22, 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 5Patented Feb. 26, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AUGUST IELFIELD, OF SILVER CREEK, NEW YORK. ASSIGNOR TO THE IELFIELDPOSTAL SUPPLY CO. INC., OF FORESTVILLE, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEWYORK.

MAIL-MARKING MACHINE.

Application filed March 22, 1926. Serial No. 96,425.

This invention relates to a machine for marking mail matter such asletters,postcards and the like which have to be taken care of in largequantities at times in thepostal service.

It is the object of this invention to provide I improved registering andstopping means for controlling the operation of the printing wheel so asto produce but one impression of the same at the proper place on eachpiece of mail matter; also to simplify and render more positive inaction the rotation of the printing wheel when the same is released bythe feeding of a piece of mail matter in position to receive animpression or postmark;

and also to provide improved means whereby the ink roller of theprinting wheel may be easily and conveniently replenished with ink whenrequired while the machine is running.

In the accompanying drawings: F igure 1 is a top plan View of a mailmarking machine embodying my improvements.

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the same. Figure 3 is a fragmentarytop plan view of the machine showing the inking mechanism with the coverof the ink fountain removed. Figure 4 is a vertical section taken online il, 3.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken on line 55, Fig. 3.

Figure 6 is a )erspective view of the shifting lei 'ervforming part ofthe inking mechamsm.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken on line 7?, Fig. 9,and showing the position of the parts of the stop and registeringmechanism when no letter or piece of mail matter has been fed intoposition to be marl-zed.

Figure 8 is a similar view showing the position of the parts of the stopand registering mechanism after a letter has been marked but has not yetcleared. the printing wheel.

Figure 9 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal section taken on line 99, Fig. 8.

Figure 10 is a vertical section taken on line 1010, Fig. 7.

Figure 11 is a perspective view of the friction or gripping blockforming part of the friction clutch mechanism for coupling the printingwheel with the driving mechanism. Figure 12 1s a cross sectlon taken online 1212, Fig. 8.

Similar characters of reference indie-ate corresponding parts in theseveral figures of the drawings. 7

The numeral 20 represents the feed table having a supply portion 21 uponwhich the letters 23 or other mail matter to be marked or canceled arestackededgewisa and' a receiving portion 24 upon which the mail mat teris stacked after receiving the post mark or canceling stamp.

Arranged lengthwise above the feed table is a guide wall having a rearsection 25' against which the pile of uncanceled letters are pressed bya bar or follower 26, and a front section 27 from which the letters aresuccessively pushed away by a stacking wheel 28. The follower 26 isconstantly moved toward the rear guide wall section 25 by an uprightrock shaft 29 journaled in a bearing in the table and connected at itsupper end withthe presser bar or follower, a rock arm 30 secured to thelower end of the presserrook shaft, and a spring 31 connecting said rockarm with the adjacent part of the feed table. v

In front of the supply portion of the table is arranged a. transverseguide wall 32 which is separatedat its inner end from the longitudinalguide wall section 25 by a separating passage 33 through which theletters move from the supply stack to the mechanism which marks theletters and stacks the same.

The letters are fed away successively from the inner side of the supplystack by a feeding belt 34 which passes with its rear turn around apulley 35 and its front turn around a pulley 36 these pulleys beingmounted 011 upright shafts 37, 38 carried by the feed table so that theoperative stretch of this belt projects beyond the face of the rear wallsection 25 and engages the letters of the supply stack so as to move thesame forwardly. Immediately in front of the passage 33 the letters areengaged on opposite sides by two separating wheels 39, 40 which continuethe forward movement of the foremost letter but hold back the succeedingletters of the supply stack.

Arranged lengthwise of the faces of the longitudinal guide wallsect-ions and spanning the gap between the same is the operative stretch41 of a carrying belt which passes with its rear turn around a pulley42, its front turn around a pulley 43 and its return stretch passesaround a driving wheel all. The latter is mounted on an upright shaft l5journaled on the table and may be turned by a hand crank 46 or by power.The pulley 42 connects with the pulleys 36 and 4:0 and these pulleysturn in unison. The pulley 4:3 is preferably connected with the stackingwheel 28 and is mounted with the same on the feed table by a verticalpin r4".

In front of the separating wheels 39, iO the carrying belt is engaged onits opposite sides by a pair of rear guide rollers d8, 49 and in rear ofthe stack section of the table the carrying belt is engaged on oppositesides by a pair of front guide rollers 50, 51.

Between the front and rear pairs of guide rollers the letters or piecesof mail matter receive a postmark by the mechanism which contains myinvention and which is constructed as follows:

The numeral 52 represents a printing wheel which is provided on itsperiphery with a die or type adapted to engage with.

. the letter and imoress a cancellin or )ostmark thereon while thisletter is supported on its opposite side by the carrying belt whichlatter at this point is supported on its back by a supporting roller54-. This printing wheeel is driven frictionally by motion derived' fromthe carrying belt and in this preferred organization is accomplished asfollows:

The numeral 99 represents a driving wheel which engages its peripherywith the lower part of the carrying belt it, as shown in Fig. 10, so asto be rotated thereby. This driving wheel is provided with an upwardlyprojecting cylindrical hub 55 and turns on an upright pin 56 mounted onthe feed table. The printing wheel rests at its lower end on the drivingwheel and is provided with'a central cylindrical bore 98 which receivesthe hub of the driving wheel and forms a pivotal connection between thesame. Extending radially outwardly from the bore of the printing wheelis a longitudinal groove 22 in which arranged a friction block 57 whichturns with the printing wheel. This friction block is pressed inwardlyso that its inner side bears against the periphery of the hub of thedriving wheel. in its preferred form such pressure is produced by bowleaf spring 100 bearing at its ends against shoulders 58 which areformed to face each other at opposite ends of arece s 59 on the outerside of the friction block and bearing with its outwardly bulgingcentral part against the bottom of the groove 22 in the pr g wheel. 3/hen the latter is free the frictiona grip of the block 57 against thehub of the driving wheel is sufiiciently strong to coinpel these membersto turn together and produce an impression of the type. die or print ingsurface of the printing wheel on the letter, card or other matterpassing between the carrying belt 41 and the periphery of the printingwheel.

The means whereby the rotation of the printing wheel is controlled inresponse to a letter which has been properly fed to the same for causingthe printing wheel to effect a rotation for producing an impression onthe letter are constructed as follows:

On its upper end and on one side of its axis the printing wheel. isprovided with an upwardly projecting pin forming a stop 60. Above theprinting wheel is arranged a horizontal bracket or plate 61 which issupported on the feed table by posts 62 and provided adjacent to theface of the carrying belt with a guide bar 63 between which and thisbelt a guide-way formed wl'icreby the letters are directed from thesupply stack to the printing mechanism. Pivoted by means of a bolt 64Lor otherwise on the underside of the bracket 61 is a horizontal swingingstop lever of elbow or L-shape form and having a forwardly projecti 5longitudinal arm 65 and a laterally projec ing arm 66. On itslongitudinal arm the stop lever is provided with an anti-friction stoproller 67 which is adapted to move into and out of the path of the stop60 on the printing wheel and thereby either arrest the rotation of thelatter or permit rotation thereof with the driving wheel. The stop leveris yieldingly turned and held in a position in which its roller 67stands in the path of the printing wheel stop by means of a spring 68connecting this lever with the adjacent part of the bracket 61. and 9the movement of this lever under the action of this spring is limited bya stop 69 arranged on this bracket in position to be engaged by thislever, as shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9. livotally mounted by a belt 101 onthe outer e id of the transverse arm of the stop lever is a trip arm 70which extends roarwardly from this pivot and isprovided at its rear end.with a hook shaped trip linger ?l which adapted to project laterallyacross the path ho of the letters approaching the printing wheel or tobe retracted therefrom. Clhis linger is held in its operative orprojected position so that it will cross the path of the letters by aspring 721 connecting the trip arm with the stop ever, and the movementof the trip arm under the action of this spring is limited by a stopface 72 on this lever engaging a stop f- :e 73 on the arm.

Preparatory to moving a printing naech .in the stop by its spring e thatits stop roller the path of the 5 wheel and the lat and the trip arm tprojects acr ss the let path, F"... l n [its a lett 3 is moved forwa 1ly from he supply stack by the feeding mechanism the front edge of theletter by en i 1 the linger of the trip arm turns stop lever in thedirection for moving its stop roller out of the path of the stop pin onthe printing wheel. The instant this occurs the printingwheel releasedand permitted to turn forwardly by the fIiQJlOIl clutch which couplesthe same with the driving wheel. During such rot, ion an impression ofthface of the prii 1;: wheel is produced on the letter which at thistime inc-vet. forwardly by the printing wheel and carrying belt cngaging with opposite sides of the letter. At the end of one rotation ofthe printing wheel the same is arrested by the stop lever which afterbeing deflected by the front end of a letter again returns to its normalo iierative position in which. the stop roller obstructs the path of theprinting wheel stop pin 60. If atthc end of one rotation of the printingwheel the. letter has not cleared the printing wheel then the trip armand its linger upon engaging the side of the respective le ter will beturncdon the stop lever so as to remain on one side of the letter pathas shown in Fig}. 8. The instanthowever that the rear end of therespective letter passes forwa 'dly beyond the trip finger the latterwill. be projected across the letter path ready to intercept the nextfollowing letter which upon engaging its front end with the trip lingerwill cause the printing wheel to be unlocked and permitted to produce animpression on this letter in the manner previously described.

Means are provided for causing the/printing wheel to receive an imimtusand to start its rotation the instant the same is unlocked by the properpresentation of a letter to the same by the letter feeding mechanismlhese means.preferably comprise a registering stop consisting of an arm74; projecting rearwurdly from a pin or screw 75 which pivots the sameon the upper end of the printing wheel and pro idcd its rear end with alaterally projt ing registering linger 76 adapted to err f'v the letterpath and to he ongaged by the front end of a letter, asp-ring '4'?connecting the registering arm with printing wheel and teud constantlyto turn the same in the direction for moving registering linger acrossthe letter path, and a stop 75% arranged on the printih wheel inposition to be c 'ged by the i sie iu i l and to liiuit its i uiuc r ofthe sprin int that the printing; wheel u been unlocked by the forwardiiiressure of the front edge of the letter against the trip linger ofthe trip lever then th letter engages its front edge with the finger ofthe registering stop and not only ass'sts in starting the printing wheelbut also causes the printing wheel to start at the proper time toimprint the canceling mark on the desired place on the letter. As theprinting wheel rotates the registering stop is carried away from thepath of'the letter and at the end of the rotation of the printing wheelthe finger of the registering stop is again carried across the letterpath of the rear end of the letter has passed beyond. If however, theletter has not com Jletel 1 passed the printine posil L C) a.

ti on by the time the printing wheel has made one rotation then theregistering stop upon engaging the side of the letter still present willbe pushed backwardly over the printing wheel, as shown in 8, and heldback until the letter has cleared the teriug stop linger and when thisoccurs the registering step will be again turned by its spring so as toproject its linger across the letter path ready to intercept thenextfollowing letter which is fed to the printing mechanism.

Although various means may be employed for inking the printing surfaceof the printing roll those shown in the drawings and embodying myinvention are preferred and constructed as follows:

The numeral 7 9 represents an ink delivery roller which is pivotallymounted on the table or other availabl support and engages with theperiphery of the printing wheel so that the same makes a legibleimpression on the letter to be marked. Adjacent to the outer side ofthis inking roller is arranged an ink fountain 80 which is arranged on arecess 81 in the table and provided with a lug 82 which is secured tothe upper side of this table. The upperside of this fountain is closedby a cover 83 and: detaehably connected with the lug 82 by a screw 84-passing through a'lug 85 on the cover. On its inner side the cover 83 isprovided with an opening 86 which receives the outer part of the inkingroller as shown in Fig. 4. Arranged within the fountain and the cover isan ink feeding disk 87 which turns about a horizontal axis whereby itsmargin is caused to pick up ink con tained in the fountain or reservoirand deposit the same on said inking wheel. During this operation thelower peripheral part of the inking disk sweeps through the ink supplyand the inner side of its upper part en gages with the inking roller anddeposits the ink thereon. For the purpose of enabling the inking rollerto be'thus supplied with ink at will when required means are provided'for moving the inking disk axially into and out of engagement with theperiphery of the inking roller. This is preferably accomplished byrotatahly mounting the inking disk on a shaft or arbor 88 which issupported on the upper part of the fountain so that the inking disk canslide lengthwise thereon, this sliding motion being preferably effectedby a hub 89 arranged on the inking disk and provided with an annulargroove90, and a shifting lever 91 provided with a fork 92 engaging withthe groove of this hub. This lever has one end pivoted in recess 93 atone end of the fountain and its otherend passes through a horizontalslot 9 1 in the cover and provided externally thereof with a handle 95for manipulating the same. l -fhen tree the inking disk is yieldinglyheld in engagement with the periphery of the inking roller by a spring96 surrounding the shatt- 88 and interposed between the hub 89 and theadjacent wall of the fountain. as shown in 3 and l. When in thisposition the inking disk is turned by frictional contact with the inkingroller so that ink constantly lifted from the fountain to the inkingroller. llpon moving the inking disk away f om the inlring roller bymeans of the shifting roller the to tation of the inking disk and itsfeeding action ceai The in r 1g roller is held out of engagement "fromthe king disk by engaging the outer arm of ice shitting lever with ahold out shoulder 91 formed on the upper edge of the ink fountain whichtorn s the hire.- er side of the slot 9%.

This inking mechanism. permits ol'very conveniently and thoroughlysupplying ink to the roller which inks this printing whe therebyenabling the postmaii-king to be eittected uniformly and econmnically.

I claim as my invention:

1. A mail marking machine comprising a printing wheel provided with astop, a unitary stop member movably mounted on a stationary support andprovided with a stop movable into and out oi the path of the stop onsaid wheel and a trip member movably mounted on said stop member andadapted to be engaged by the mail matter to be marked.

2. A mail marking machine comprising a printing w ieel provided with astop, a unitary stop lever pivoted on a stationary support and providedwith a stop movable into and out of the path of the stop on said wheel,and a trip arm pivoted on said stop lever and adapted to be engaged bythe mail matter to be marked. I

3. A mail marking machine comprising a printing wheel provided with astop pin, an L-shapcd stop lever pivoted on a stationary support andhaving a laterally projecting arm and a forwardly projecting armprovidcd with a stop roller movable into and out or the path of saidstop pin, and a trip arm pivoted on said laterally projecting arm andhaving a linger adapt d to be engaged by the mail matter to be ma ed. I

A mail marking machine comprising a printing wheel provided with a stop,a slop lever pivoted on a staiioiuiry support and provided with a stopmovable into and. out of the path of the stop on slid wheel, a trip armpivoted on said stop lever and adapted to be engaged by the mail matterto be marked, yielding means for turning the stop lever and holding itsstop in the path of the printing wheel stop, and yielding means forturning said arm and holding the same in the path of the mail matter.

5. A mail marking machine comprising a printing Wheel providing with astop pin, an L-shaped stop lever pivoted on a station ary support andhaving a laterally projecting arm and a forwardly projecting armprovided with a stop roller movable into and out of the path of saidstop pin, a trip arm pivoted on said laterally projecting arm andliiaving a finger adapted to be engaged by the mail matter to be marked,a spring connecting said lever and support and turnthis lever in thedirection for moving its stop roller into the path of said stop pin,means for limiting the movement of said lever under the action of saidspring, a spring connecting said arm and lever and turning said arm inthe direction for moving its finger into the path of the mail matter,and means for limiting the movement of the trip arm under the action ofthe spring connecting the same with the stop lever.

6. A mailniarking machine comprising a printing wheel provided with astop, a uni tary stop member movably mounted on a stationary support andprovided with a stop movable into and out of the path of tie stop onsaid wheel, a trip member movably mounted on said stop member andadapted to be engaged by the mail matter to be marked, and a registeringstop movably mounted on said printing wheel and adapted to be engaged bythe mail matter to be marked.

7. A mail marking machine comprising a printing wheel provided with astop, a stop member movably mounted on a stationary support and providedwith a stop movable into and out of the path of the stop on said wheel,atrip member movably mounted on said stop member and adapted to beengagedbythe mail matter to be marked, a longitudinally registering stoparm pivoted on the printing wheel and provided at its rear end with afinger adapted. to project laterally across the path oi" the mailmatter, a spring connecting the registering stop arm with said wheel andtending constantly to hold said linger in the path of the mail matter,and means for limiting the movement of said finger on said stop armunder the action of the spring connecting the same.

8. A. mail marking machine comprising a printing wheel provided with anaxial cylindrical bore and a longitudinal groove e2:- r einliugrai'lially outward trom said bore, a driving wheel having a cylindricalhub engaging with the cylindrical bore of said wheel. a iii-lotion.block arranged in said groove and bearing with its inner side agains heperiphery oi said hub and provided on ts outer side with a recessforming two i AUGUST IELFIELD.

